Senin, 13 April 2009

Caught ! by the Ballard bridge last Saturday. An uneventful ride down paused while a boat passed under the bridge and we waited. I made it down through Ballard, on to Discovery Park and past the waterfront and across the West Seattle Bridge. A steep, no REAALY steep climb up to 21st street and then along the ridge while the skies opened up on me. I smiled, wiped my glasses and made it to the Fauntleroy ferry terminal. I plunked down a Lincoln and boarded and grabbed a cup of Joe...

On Vashon I took the steep 103rd climb and found that gravity is not just a theory. Having lost my map somewhere in Seattle, I was pleased to remember the way. The sleepy morning was nice and the peaceful farms and quiet forest seemed to welcome this old rider. Watching the clock kept me screaming for the ferry and I made it with a minute or two to spare...

This is the view from the porthole on the side of the micro ferry.

That is Point Defiance in the background and Evo in the foreground.

I didn't take my camera, these are shots from my phone. Have a great day.

Minggu, 05 April 2009

With our new uniforms and warmer weather, anyone who dared complain would have been rightfully flogged. It was a beautiful day and (at least my) clothing performed wonderfully. The group swelled to a full dozen riders. This was a great contrast to some of the winter rides where three or four of us would brave the morning twilight and ride with frost on the ground. Temperatures that STARTED in the 40's greeted us for the Mercer loop. Sam was back in the saddle and his smiling face was a welcomed sight.

Sabtu, 04 April 2009

Above is my start of the Carnation time trial held last weekend. In a cruel twist of fate, we rode under grey skies that had just stopped SNOWING before the first rider went off. The air was a crisp 34 degrees and the slushy roads in combination with the big trucks that passed us on the first five miles managed to speckle every rider with mud. As a 'cross rider, this would have been just fine, but as irony is my friend, by late afternoon the sun was ablaze and I was wearing sandals and a T-shirt. I managed just over 21.3 mph for the 20k distance.

Our long awaited new team kit arrived and I will confess I have been lounging in my new jacket and if I had team pajamas I would have been sleeping in them as well. The wrath of Deity weather ended yesterday morning (snow in the highlands of Shoreline) and we have sunny weather for riding and gardening this weekend. So I will be able to use the kit for its intended purpose. Sam is shown in one of our jerseys visiting one of our sponsors, Fuel coffee. Note the 2020 Cycle logo, Fuel Coffee and the Lion of Flanders.

Here I am with Professional Bull Rider, Wiley Peterson. Hottie, Son #2 and Hottie's mom and I went to Tacoma and watched the bulls and the riders do battle. Wiley is my favorite as he breaks the mold of the stoic Cowboy.

One of the things that makes our neighborhood fun is the Gnome who decorates our mailboxes. Our first reaction when we discovered we have been "adorned" was that someone had violated our personal space. Then, when the character that was atop our US Postmaster approved box had fallen to the ground, we were quick to put it back in its place as we didn't want to be left out.

Finally, we sent our passports off to obtain Visa's so we can visit "Zach in Damascus." That will be a story in itself.